Your Future Self is Watching
Somewhere around 10 years from now, there's a version of you looking back at the decisions you're making today.
They're watching how you spend. How you save. Whether you invest or keep putting it off. Whether you build something or let another year slip by.
The question is: will they thank you or resent you?
I think about this a lot.
On a recent podcast episode, I asked my co-hosts a simple question: "If your 2035 self could see your financial moves in 2025, what would they say?"
And it hit me that I already know what my future self would say about my late teens and early 20s, because I'm living the answer right now.
This year, I traveled to Japan. Twice.
Not on credit. Not hoping I'd figure out how to pay it off later.
Fully paid for, no financial stress waiting for me when I got home.
That trip wasn't possible because I got lucky or made a bunch of money overnight.
It was possible because of boring, unsexy decisions I made almost a decade ago when I had nothing.
Back then, I didn't come from money. Nobody in my family talked about investing.
I had no roadmap, no safety net, no one telling me it would work out.
But I made a rule for myself: take a slice of every dollar I earn and pay it forward to my future self.
Even when it was $25 a week. Even when people around me were traveling, buying stuff, living it up. Even when I had doubts (and trust me, I had plenty.)
I just kept investing. I trusted the process even when I couldn't see the finish line.
And now? My future self is looking back at that version of me and saying, "Thank you."
Here's what I see all the time in this community:
People who know they should be investing. They've read the posts. They've listened to the podcast. They understand compound interest, dollar-cost averaging, all of it.
But they're not consistent.
Not because they're lazy or don't care but because they don't have a system.
They're relying on willpower and motivation instead of automation and structure.
And the truth is, willpower runs out. Systems don't.
Idle cash sitting in your bank account will disappear to spending. That's just how it works.
But money that moves automatically into investments builds momentum you don't have to think about.
I think the biggest lie people believe about long-term investing is that you won't see any benefit until you're 70, sitting on a porch somewhere, finally "allowed" to enjoy your money.
That's not how this works.
The habits you build today will give you more options in just a few years, not decades.
I'm not retired. I'm 30. But because of decisions I made in my early 20s, I have breathing room. I have options. I can book a trip without guilt, take a risk on my business, say no to things that don't serve me.
That's what investing actually buys you. Not just a retirement account, freedom in the moment.
So here's my challenge for you this week:
Automate something.
Set up an automatic transfer to your investment account, even if it's $20.
Set your bills to autopay.
Remove yourself from the equation so you stop relying on "remembering" or "feeling like it."
Your future self doesn't care how motivated you were.
They care about what you actually did.
And right now, they're watching.
If you've been meaning to build a system that runs on autopilot (something that stacks assets in the background while you live your life) that's exactly what I built Money Mastery to do.
It's the same framework I used to go from nothing to traveling the world without debt. No guessing. No gambling. Just a repeatable process that compounds over time.
Happy New Year. Make your future self proud in 2026.
